“Uncle Tom” is based on a Marylander

Plantations in Charles and Montgomery Counties
March 20, 1852

Josiah Henson (1789-1883), having escaped enslavement, reaches Canada with his family and rejoices as a free man. Born in Port Tobacco, Henson has faced and survived the many cruelties of the enslavement system both in Maryland and Kentucky. Leading a free Black community called the Dawn Settlement, Henson learns to read and write and becomes a minister as well as a Canadian militia officer.

Henson publishes his autobiography in 1849 and is the model for Harriet Beecher Stowe’s (1811-1896) main character in her novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin. When the book is published in 1852, it becomes a best seller and one of the most popular anti-slavery stories before the Civil War.

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Josiah Henson Museum and Park

View Other Mosaic Pieces

Johns Hopkins University opens

Johns Hopkins University opens its doors in 1876 as the first US institution of higher education based on a German model emphasizing graduate education. It has produced many firsts, notably the sanitation work of Abel Wolman.

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Land Recognition

We acknowledge the enduring presence of many American Indian tribes who once lived in Maryland and who now, having lost their lands, live in a diaspora. Read more.

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